Romans glory internationally
Courtesy of Bath & Wiltshire Romans RLFC
Current Bath & Wiltshire Romans (RFLC) rugby league player David Parkin (second row) recently came back from a rugby league tour of Bosnia with the GB Pioneers.
Now back in the country David commented “I spent 2 weeks out there, we trained, coached and even got on national TV! As Pioneers we went to Bosnia to spread the word about rugby league and try help the sport to grow, currently their league has 10 teams but is expanding year on year. ”
“During the time out there we played 2 matches and a 9’s tournament, the final match was the highlight as we played the full Bosnian national team, winning 54 – 7. The tour was a great success and I hope I can bring back what I’ve learnt to help the Romans succeed!”
Rugby league is now a growing sport in the Bath area thanks to the Romans who are also helping to spread the word about rugby league. First team Manager Chris Chatten commented “This area has plenty of untapped potential for development for the sport as a hot bed of rugby union and the profile of rugby league has been raised since Sam Burgess started playing for Bath.”
The Romans are having a highly successful debut season under the guidance of player-coach Tom Howley, who has himself recently returned from the Armed Forces rugby league tour of Australia narrowly going down 26-24 in the test match. However, he did manage to sneak over for a try. Romans centre Mike Harrison also toured Australia with the Armed Forces rugby league squad.
Currently unbeaten in the West of England League the Romans are having a great debut season. They also won the West of England Challenge Cup last month and came runners up in the West of England 9’s event a couple of weeks ago.
The Romans next big game is this coming Wednesday evening, 29th July, against Bristol Sonics at Dings RFC, Bristol, 7.30pm kick off. They then have only two league games remaining before the end of season play offs, Somerset Vikings away on Saturday 1st August and Bristol Sonics at their Leafy Lane home in Corsham on Saturday 8th August.
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